Method of tooling articles of leather or the like



Jan. 8, 1952 J. R. CRAIGHEAD 2,581,361

METHOD OF TOOLING ARTICLES OF LEATHER OR THE LIKE Filed April 16, 1946 F /5 Fig. L 6

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' /2 John 2. Cra g/7660' F1: j BY ATTOP/VE) Patented Jan. 8, 1952 UNITED STATES OE TQQLING ARTICLES OF LEATHER OR THE? BIKE J 01111 Re m sh D ive (3 19.

Application April 16, 1946, Serial; No. 662,493

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This: v nti n relates. to. a. method of toolin articles. of leather or the like.

In. h .1ea. b r-w0rk. ne arts. i ha n nown that. dec rativ ef ects b obta by pro: ducing ntee iq pattern on a h surf c s.- Foxni r y. handon ti ns. We eus d to roduc hese e f cts. La r. ie p r ions r de b p hi h. we esuitable s ne sa p e t a. but thes me hods not p ed. o er-mine in aeli pat e n n. qene or mended surfaces.

A principal object of my invention is to provide an improved method of tooling articles having an arcuate or convex surface.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the disclosure following, and from the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of a tooled leather article, such as a belt, having a completed raised or tooled pattern, after having been tooled by the use of my new die and plunger illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top view of my die and plunger assembly illustrated in Fig. 3, with part of the plunger broken away to illustrate the reverse pattern indentations in the curved surface of the die;

Fig. 3 is an end view of my die and plunger assembly, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a reduced cross-sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. l to illustrate the belt as having the exterior cross-sectional surface curved or arcuate; and

Fig. 5 is a reduced cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 4 and illustrating the contour of the belt material shown in Fig. 4 prior to the die-tooling operation.

Referring first to my novel die-tooling assembly, which I have indicated generally as D, in Fig. 3, I provide a channel-type die member Ill, with I the central die surface H at the bottom of the channel curved in contour and with a die pattern l2 indented therein in reverse design to the finished pattern desired to be tooled on a belt or other leather article.

I provide a suitable plunger l5 having a portion I6 adapted to be actuated downwardly and upwardly within the upstanding side wall portions of the channel die ID and with relation to the die surface I l with the lower surface ll similarly curved in contour to the corresponding die surface I I. A cross section of a belt after having been tooled in the assembly, is illustrated in Fig. 4.

A strip of leather, suchas belting material, which may be fiat or at least flat on the inside or bot m, as shown at; 2.1,. subie led th e stamninew e im g rq e 9 7 S Se t en exsur aee ta e- 51 1 e d ame. die m with the flat surface of the leather 2.3a on or contact with the curved die surface ii and. the undersurface ll of the plunger is caused tobeai: ain t. h l v e s rf ce 2 a f the b t, a suitable intaglio pattern will be produced while the sectional contour of the strip is reversed as shown by the comparison of Figs. 4 and 5.

The plunger i5 may be actuated by any well known method and source of power in a downward direction sufficiently to force the surface 20 against the die pattern 12 so as to impress the die pattern into the top cross-sectional surface 20 of the belt and to shape it at the same time, thereby producing the finished raised tooled contour design or pattern on the article as illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a view illustrative of my die and plunger assembly, looking downwardly, before the .belt A is placed therein.

In addition to impressing the intaglio pattern on the surface of the leather, the material in the raised portions of the pattern is compressed and slightly glazed in the die-forming operation. This glossy effect also gives to these portions a lighter color effect than the background portions indicated by the hatched areas in Fig. 1. The compression renders such portions more resistant to wear and dirt absorption, which is of particular value when the formed article is used as a piece of apparel, such as a belt.

In preferred procedure, a single length of leather strip will be given the entire intaglio pattern in a single operation as hereinbefore described. However, it also is possible to apply repeat patterns alon a longer strip by proper aligning of the end of one pattern application with the commencement of the next in the series. An automatic feeding arrangement will be preferable in such operations, although satisfactory results can be attained by manual movement of the piece to the different operative positions.

While the pattern-forming operations of this invention have been described with reference to a belt or similar article, it will be understood that other articles, such as wrist watch straps, hat bands, billfolds and similar articles, can be produced from strip leather to which the dieformed intaglio pattern is applied.

In the preceding description, reference has 3 been made to the production of intaglio patterns on leather by die-tooling operations, but it will be understood that other materials, such as. synthetic compositions of the class of imitation leather, rubber, felt and the like, may be treated effectively by these same methods.

The die-forming operations and articles produced thereby which have been described and illustrated herein are intended merely as typical illustrations of the practice of the invention and not to limit same, the scope of the invention havin been fully set forth in the hereunto appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The method of tooling a, leather article or the like, which comprises inserting a strip of such material having a convex surface and a relatively flat surface in a die of substantially concave contour, and moving the relatively flat surface of said strip against the concave die surface under sufficient pressure to impress the die pattern in reverse arrangement throughout said originally flat surface of the strip brought in contact therewith and to reverse the contour of said strip.

2. The method of tooling a leather article or the like, which comprises inserting a strip of such material having a flat surface and a convex surface in a die of substantially concave contour with the flat surface of the strip in contact with the concave die portion, moving the strip lengthwise of the die to bring a new portion of the flat surface in contact with the die pattern, and then 'moving the new flat surface against the concave die surface under sufficient pressure to impress the die pattern thereon, whereby to produce a repeat pattern on the strip and to reverse the contour thereof. JOHN R. CRAIGHEAD.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 48,876 Pratt July 18, 1865 97,675 Morris Dec. 7, 1869 129,123 Foust July 16, 1872 178,845 Gahr June 20, 1876 182,408 Brewer Sept. 19,1876 356,662 Raymond Jan. 25, 1887 1,115,183 Enslin Oct. 27, 1914 1,657,839 Mann Jan. 31, 1928 1,780,496 Meyercord Nov. 4, 1930 1,868,788 Zinser July 26, 1932 1,919,058 George July 18, 1933 1,969,972 Edward Aug. 14, 1934 2,016,913 Uriwal Oct. 8, 1935 2,300,760 Amigo Nov. 3, 1942 

